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Pro-Israel alumni association celebrates deletion

Barnard College removed an Instagram posting highlighting a student’s summer internship with an Arabic magazine following pushback.

The Columbia University-affiliated women’s college had highlighted the student and her summer internship at ArabLit Quarterly on the school’s Instagram page.

The school removed the post on Aug. 11, but the student newspaper reported on it just this week.

“Yesterday, we removed a post highlighting a student’s summer internship that included an image that was offensive to some in our community,” Barnard College wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Out of respect for those views and for the safety of the student, the post has been removed from all Barnard social media.”

The spring 2024 issue is titled “Gaza! Gaza! Gaza!” and shows what appears to be Israel with Gaza “highlighted in yellow,” according to the Columbia Spectator.

The student newspaper reported:

Social media users quickly commented criticism on the now-removed post, with some writing “Why are we proud of the Middle East infiltrating our schools and student ideology” and “This is garbage.”

The student declined an interview request from Spectator due to safety concerns. ArabLit Quarterly did not respond to a request for comment.

The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association wrote in an Aug. 11 X post that “We can hardly believe it either” and “A new low for the useful idiots at Barnard.”

“Portraying the genocide of Jews is NOT OK – even if you do it with flowers,” the association wrote in a later post on X.

The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association celebrated the removal. “This is a positive sign that they’ve recognized how deeply offensive it was,” the group wrote, according to the Columbia Spectator. “Therefore, we removed our post calling them out for it.”

.@BarnardCollege removed the IG post featuring the incorrect map that erases Jewish history from Israel and falsely suggests that it is an Arab nation. Rather than issuing an apology to the Jewish and pro-Israel community, Barnard doubles down, claiming the student was “subject… pic.twitter.com/lVMIZkQtUS

— Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus at Columbia U (@CampusJewHate) August 12, 2024

Columbia University witnessed pro-Palestinian protests last school year, including some which turned violent, as students stormed and took over a building.

This school year began with vandalism of a statue on campus and a “picket line,” as recently reported by The College Fix.

“This action is the first of many,” a group called “Unity of Fields” wrote about its vandalism. “We will not stop until the university fully divests from all forms of settler-colonial violence.”

“…We refuse to allow Columbia to return to a state of ‘normalcy’. ‘Normalcy’ is the structurally impelled displacement and eventual destruction of the Palestinian people.”

Editor’s note: This post has been updated to remove the name of the student featured because she was receiving threats and doxxing attacks.

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IMAGE: Barnard College/Instagram archived by Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus at Columbia U

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